Patent GB-708002-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for stoppering bottles and other containers
IPC: B67C7/00
Filed: 1950-02-15
Abstract: 708,002. Stoppering botttes &c. CLEGG, F. W. May 15, 1951, No. 11260/51. Divided, out of 707,969, [Group XXX]. Class 125 (2) In stoppering apparatus wherein containers are fed intermittently step by step under a stoppering holder which has a reciprocating and rotational movement to insert the stopper and is synchronized with the container feed, the holder has a transverse stopper receiving channel to which the stoppers are fed from a guideway by . means which discharge them singly and at positively controlled intervals to a position in the channel on the stopper insertion axis. Bottles 41 are fed to and discharged from the machine by a common conveyer 42 and are taken from the feed part by a starwheel 91 intermittently rotated by a pin 110 engaging slots in a wheel 111 rotating with the starwheel. This pin is on a gear 107 driven through a train 101, 102, 103 from a drive pulley 100. Mounted on the gear 103 is a cam 104 co-operating with a follower 105 which urges a finger 92 into and out of engagement with the array of approaching bottles to present the latter in appropriate timed relation to the starwheel 91. A safety device may be provided so that, if a bottle is presented to the starwheel, e.g. on its side, the machine is stopped. The pulley 100 also continuously rotates a shaft 123 which drives the stopper selector device described in Specification 707,969 which supplies stoppers 22 from bulk in a hopper to a guideway 48 in which they lie in line head upwards. The shaft 123, through suitable gearing, continuously rotates a cam 126 co-operating with a follower 127 which oscillates an arm 66, Figs. 2 and 5. The arm 66 through a linkage 66, 65, 64, 62, 61, 58, 54, 55 reciprocates a finger 53 in the blind end 51 of the guideway 48. The link 54 carries a stop 68 co-operating with a peg 69 on a finger 70 pivoted to the guideway and urged to the left by a spring 71, Fig. 2. When the finger 53 and the link 54 move to the left, 'the former pushes a stopper 22 from the guideway on to the lips 75 of the stoppering head jaws 73 and the latter allows the finger 70 to interrupt the feed of stoppers to the blind end 51. On movement to the right, the finger 70 allows resumption of the stopper feed and a further stopper moves in front of the pusher finger 53. The throw of the finger 53 can be adjusted by varying the effective length of the link 65. The stoppering head 50 is mounted on a shaft 76 in a housing 82. Shaft 76 is intermittently rotated by a gear train 77, 116, 115. 114, 113, the last of which is rotated by a wheel 112 wich has slots engaged by a pin 109 on the continuously rotating gear 107. The head is pressed downwardly by a spring 86 and, to move it up and down, it is pivoted between the arms 78 of a lever 79 pivoted at 80 and having a follower 84 engaging a cam 85 driven continuously through gearing from shaft 123. The throw of the stoppering head can be adjusted by a screw 83. The head 50 is thus intermittently rotated and continuously reciprocated vertically. The timing is such that it is fed with a stopper 22 by the finger 53 at the top of its stroke, it is rotated as it is lowered and then rises up to receive a further stopper. The bottles are presented intermittently below the head by the starwheel 91: The jaws 73 are pivoted at their upper ends to the head 50- and are connected by a tension spring 74. The stopper rests on lips 75 and the jaws below this are rounded outwardly. As the head descends, the rounded ends of the jaws engage and ride over the bottle neck which eases them apart so that the stopper can be fully inserted into the bottle by the vertical and rotational motion of the head. In a modification, Fig. 8 (not shown), the rotational component of the relative motion of the bottle and stopper is supplied by rotating the bottle between friction wheels. The bottles after stoppering are fed by the discharge run of conveyer 42 to a machine for applying a sealing cap. The guideway. 48 lies in a vertical arc of 180 degrees down. which the stoppers are conveyed by having their heads engaged by the periphery of a verticallydisposed disc. According to the Provisional Specification, the stoppers may be conveyed in the guideway by a tape conveyer engaging their heads or by a disc engaging the periphery of their heads. Embodiments of the means for supplying stoppers from the guideway are described in which the stopper-receiving channel is rigid and the stopper is drawn therefrom, by movement of the bottle to which it has been applied away from the stoppering position.